UN Authority Figures

UN General Assembly Vice-President: Oman

Omani authorities have arbitrarily arrested and detained individuals from Musandam province. These arbitrary arrests may be motivated in part by discrimination because the detainees are members of the Al-Shuhuh tribe, a community with culturally distinct practices from mainland Oman.
Source: Civicus, August 30, 2018. Photo: Omani Special Forces (Wikimedia Commons)

Mission of the General Assembly:
"13. The General Assembly shall initiate studies and make recommendations for the purpose of:
    a. promoting international co-operation in the political field and encouraging the progressive development of international law and its codification;
    b. promoting international co-operation in the economic, social, cultural, educational, and health fields, and assisting in the realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion." ("UN Charter")

Term of office: 2019-2020

Oman's Record on "the realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion":
"Human rights issues included occasional allegations of torture of prisoners and detainees in government custody; undue restrictions on free expression, the press, and the internet, including censorship, site blocking, and criminal libel; substantial interference with the rights of peaceful assembly and freedom of association; restrictions on political participation, and criminalization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) conduct... The law prohibits criticism of the sultan in any form or medium, as well as any "provocative propaganda to undermine the prestige of the state," electronic communication that "might prejudice the public order or religious values," and "defamation of character." Therefore, it is illegal to insult any public official or private citizen. Authorities have prosecuted individuals for writing about the sultan in a way the government perceived to be negative... Media did not operate freely... The government restricted freedoms of peaceful assembly and association...The law does not provide citizens the ability to choose their government in free and fair periodic elections based on universal and equal suffrage. The sultan retains ultimate authority on all foreign and domestic issues..."
(U.S. State Department's Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2018, Oman)

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